The Sims 4 Snowy Escape – Build/Buy items

Thanks for the EA Game Changers program for giving us early access to the new pack. Because it was Alpha software, it is possible that there are small changes in the pack before release.
For this review we only had access to Base game and The Sims 4 Snowy Escape.
At the bottom of the page you can find an index to our other The Sims 4 Snowy Escape articles.

Base game update

First up, let me tell you about an update that is coming to the game for everyone. Before every new pack, The Sims 4 gets an update, and sometimes it will have some things in it that were made ‘for’ the pack, but will be available for everyone. Being able to place rental lots in any of the worlds, is one of them.
But to stick to build/buy, there’s another one, platforms.

Platforms will be a new feature to build with, and they are very versatile. They work similar to rooms and roofs. You can place a square (or even a rounded one) down, and then decide if you want to make it higher, or lower. You can even sink it into the ground. You can create also place a platform on a platform, so you can create multiple levels within one room. But you can also use them for roofs. The options are almost endless.
Sims will also be able to interact with each other while on different platforms, and if it’s a 1 step height, you don’t need a stair to access is. Is your platform higher, than you can also of course place a stair or ladder leading up to the platform.

Build/Buy items

There are over 150 new items in this pack. And together with the new platforms update, the possibilities for builds have expanded once again.
The items are heavily inspired by Japanese and Asian architecture.

Most of the doors and windows have a frosted/paper version as well as a glass version, but not all of them.
Many of the items can be used in both traditional homes as well as modern homes, as the Japanese are great at combining those styles.

There are 3 new styles rooms added to the game, “Peak Kitchen”, “Private Hot Spring”, “My Sweet Komorebi Room”, and 2 that unlock when you reach the top of either of the Salary Person career. “Expert’s Zen Room” When you reach the top of the Expert branch, and “The Middle of Things – Room” for the Supervisor.

Gameplay items

There are a few items that help with Gameplay. Of course the Skiis and Snowboards, but we’ll skip those for here for now.

Hot Pot

The Hot Pot is a new item that is a live draggable cooking device. You can place it on a dining table, a kitchen counter or a Kotatsu. There are 3 new recipes for the Hot Pot: Yosenabe ($18), Oden ($30) and Sukiyake ($44).

Heaters

As the new world is situated on the mountain, and the neighbourhood Yukimatsu is covered in snow year round, it is also very cold in that neighbourhood most of the time. You do not have to have Seasons installed to get this effect. Your Sims can also get cold due to this inside the house, but to help your Sims warm up, you can place Heaters that come with this pack.
They can be turned on with an automated setting, so they turn off when it’s warmer again, or be on/off.
Be careful though – it is a heat source, so the heaters can be a fire hazard.

Shoes off

Shoes off inside the house is a new feature that comes with this pack. It’s custom in many Asian cultures. There is a Build/Buy item that will trigger this behaviour in builds. If you place the sign called “Taming of the shoe”, the default rule is to take shoes off. In live mode you can click the sign, and change it to either, wear shoes indoors, or wear slippers.

Koi Fish

This is not really a game play item, but it is one that has been mentioned as a new feature, adding koi fish to your pond/fountain.
You can add koi fish to your fountain by adding the “Water Lily Patch” that comes with the pack. This is a 3×3 item that can only be placed on water. If you find it too big, you can also scale it down with the [ key. This won’t affect the fish, they stay the same size (and can potentially clip through the fountain wall if you use this trick)
They can also be placed in pools, though they don’t show up in the “water objects” section of the pool